


Synthesis

by 10k_au



Category: Z Nation (TV)
Genre: F/M, Pregnancy, blend!10k
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-07
Updated: 2016-11-17
Packaged: 2018-08-29 16:15:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,548
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8496838
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/10k_au/pseuds/10k_au
Summary: The group get a visit from Murphy and 10k at their new compound. This brings difficulties with the reader as she carries 10k's unborn child.





	1. Chapter 1

ou stand, hands interlaced and resting on your swollen stomach. You weren’t showing that much yet, but just the bulge gave you a comfort that a few months ago, you would have thought was now impossible. But being pregnant also struck fear into your heart. It made you think of 10k. You didn’t know where he was. Whether he was even still alive. You were worried enough about giving birth and raising a child in the goddamn apocalypse, and you’d have to do that alone. You wished that you’d had a chance to tell him. Maybe he would have fought harder to get back to you, to both of you. With a shake of your head, you pull your jumper tight around you. You couldn’t blame it on him. None of it.

“Hey, you okay in there?” Addy is outside the door of the bathroom, her head pressed to the wood. She’s been worrying about you, transforming into a mother hen in front of your eyes. It’s sweet, but you really wouldn’t mind some time to yourself as well.

“Yeah, gimme a sec.” You wipe away some stray tears that have been haunting your cheeks with your sleeves, and then adjust yourself before unlocking the door and pulling it in towards you. Addy gives you a little smile, leaning against the wall. She looks tired, she’s been taking on your watch as well as her own, to let you get a bit more rest. You nod at her, letting her know that you’re okay.

“Warren needs our help” She tells you softly. “Apparently, there’s a van at the gates.”

You follow her down the hallway and out of the door. Addy is swinging her Z- Whacker, seemingly excited for whatever is about to go down. She kicks the door open, and you roll your eyes, exiting after her. Vasquez is standing to the side, and as you both pass, he starts walking with you.

“What’s going on?” he asks, loading his gun.

“Some humans at the gate” You tell him. He looks at you out of the corner of his eye and snaps his shotgun shut. The face he pulls lets you know that he thinks something dodgy is going on.

“Humans?” he asks. “It’s been a while”

You have to agree with him there, you haven’t seen humans in this part of town for a week or two, a long period of time at the end of the world. You look at his gun and pull your jumper even tighter around yourself. He sees your glance.

“You need a weapon?” He asks you gently, as you approach the gates. You look at him again and shake your head. “You sure?” He presses. “I don’t want you in danger” 

You look at him again, and you smile, happy that he seems to genuinely care about you. You think that you see him smile back, and then he reaches into his boot and pulls a knife free, holding the blade to pass the handle to you. You take it hesitantly and give him one final nod before he dashes off to talk to Warren.

You hold the knife tightly and make your own way over. Warren is whispering into Vasquez’s ear, he looks over at you, a blank look on his face. You realise they must be saying something about you. No surprise. She’s probably saying that she wants me back inside, that I’m more of a hindrance than a help.

Addy is peering through the gate, trying to work out what’s going on. She taps her weapon against the bars, striking out a little tune. Vasquez jogs over to her and says something that makes her look over her shoulder at you. She forces a smile, but it’s obvious that she doesn’t like what she’s hearing.

“Hi Kid” Doc appears at your side, arms crossed. You hate it when he calls you that, it reminds you too much of 10k. But you can’t blame him for it, it must comfort him a little to be able to still say it, even if it’s not to him.

“Hi Doc” you reply. “You okay?”

He nods, and then he gestures to your stomach.

“How’s the little fella?” he asks, happiness lighting up his eyes. You try to smile again, but you find it too difficult with all of the thoughts of what could be going on shooting through your mind.

“The baby’s okay” You mumble. “As far as I can tell that is.”

He nods and then moves both hands to his hips, hooking his thumbs under his braces.

“If you need a check over” he reminds you. You nod and then look up as Warren comes over and stops right in front of you. She slides her machete into her belt and then lifts one side of her lips into a friendly smile.

“Hey, we’ve been talking” she says softly. You duck your head a little, looking her straight into the eyes and waiting for a blow about how weak you are, or how delicate you are. It doesn’t come.

“Sweetie, its Murphy out there” She tells you. You stare at her, your mind not putting the pieces together. Doc fidgets beside you, and he rubs at his eyes with the palm of his hand. You continue to look into Roberta’s eyes, gripping the knife tightly.

“You know what that means, don’t you” she adds, nodding and placing a hand on one of your shoulders. You swallow and you try to make sense of the words that are coming out of her mouth. Everything seems to be swimming a little around you, but you don’t know why.

“y/n” she says clearly, taking your face in her hands to make you focus. “Y/n, 10k is here.”

Everything falls apart. You can’t be sure how long time seems to freeze around you, but eventually everything springs back. You stumble a little and Warren catches you with her elbows. You think that you hear her muttering a ‘hey, hey, hey’. And then a different pair of arms take you. Your eyes flicker and you blink rapidly, trying to bring yourself back to reality.

Vasquez helps you gently to a bench and sits you down. He presses something into your hand, cold and solid. You look down at the flask and slowly raise it to your lips, taking a sip. You go to hand it back but he shakes his head firmly.

“Keep it for a bit, you need it more than I do.”

“Thank you” you manage, screwing the lid on and putting it between your knees. Vasquez clears his throat and you look up at him. His eyes won’t rest on yours completely, he seems awkward, as if he doesn’t know what to say to me. You wave a hand at him faintly.

“It’s okay, you don’t have to say anything” you tell him. “I knew this was probably going to come someday.” 

“I was going to say I’ll come with you” he says, a rare smile appearing on his face. “To see him.”

You’re surprised. Normally he’s in the background, leaning against a wall somewhere, trying not to get involved in any of the ongoing commotion. He spins a small blade over his knuckles and waits for you to respond. You frown and nod, looking down at the floor. You can’t imagine seeing him now. Knowing what he is. Knowing that you’re carrying a little piece of him inside of you and that he has no clue. Your hand flies to your bump and you hold it gently, as if asking the baby what it thinks you should do.

“Are you going to tell him?” Vasquez says, his brow is low, and you guess that he has already built a strong opinion on what he thinks the right answer would be. You clasp your hands together and sit back, fumbling with your fingers in your lap.

“I don’t know.” You confess. You pause for a second and then look over at him once more. “What do you think that I should do?” He shifts in his seat and looks up into the sky, squinting in the light.

“I think that both you and that little girl or boy would be better off without him” He says. “He’ll only be a threat. He’ll only be a threat to that baby.” He brushes non-existent dust off of the barrel of his gun, avoiding your eye. You can’t imagine that he’s wrong, 10k is different now, and you need the best for your little bundle.

You follow Vasquez into a small room. There’s a few chairs around the sides, and some more around a table in the centre. You look to him for direction and he shrugs before pulling one out and gesturing for you to sit down. You do so and he stays standing, gun across his hips. Across the other side of the room, a door opens and you watch as Murphy saunters into the room. He tips his hat towards you with a cruel smirk on his face and then sits in a chair opposite you. You hear Warren enter behind you, but you don’t turn to look because at the same time, 10k enters.

He seems taller, and he’s definitely thinner. His cheekbones look painfully sharp and his eyes seem to be sinking back into his head, dark circles blooming underneath them. You can’t breathe as he walks across and stands by Murphy’s side. His gun isn’t in his hands, but he seems just as dangerous without it. The look on his face is pure violence. What has he done to your boy? Your sweet gentle boy. You almost get to your feet, but Vasquez’s arm shoots out and prevents you from moving.

10k is staring at you, eyes wide, jaw tense. You gaze back, eyes slicking up and your cheeks burning a bright cerise.

“Why have you come here, Murphy?” Warren demands. Murphy looks her dead in the eye and then drums his fingers on the table.

“I wanted to see you guys.” He says cheerfully. “Especially her.” His eyes move to you, fixing on for barely a moment before drifting up to Vasquez.

“She got a guard dog!” He exclaims. “How lovely, how are you Javier?”

Vasquez cocks his gun, making a gentle snarling noise. Murphy’s hands go up in defence, his face a mixture of amusement and shock. For once, Warren doesn’t force the Barrel down, she just keeps looking at Murphy, a disdainful look on her features.

“Vasquez…” you mutter. “Don’t forget he’s the only chance at a cure.”

10k looks at you strangely, and then glares at Vasquez. You suddenly feel the urge to run over to him and gather him up in your arms, tell him that everything is okay. You space out for a moment and when you come back to your senses, Warren and Murphy are squaring up over the table.

“Just tell me why!?” Murphy yells, grabbing your attention. Warrens face screws up and she spits across at him, missing him by less than an inch.

“Because she’s important to us.” She says sternly. “We all care about one another, unlike you.”

“No she’s not.” He laughs, earning a sideways murder-glance from 10k. “You don’t care about anyone in case they’re relevant to your mission, or they’re ill or…” He pauses and looks at you again, eyes narrowing.

“Is that it?” He asks. “Are you ill?”

Perhaps you are. Perhaps carrying a baby in these times is a kind of sickness. You’re seen as weak, useless. You’re not half a measure to anyone else, and when the baby is born? You’ve just created another fragile life. You realise that your hand is on your tummy again and you pull it away quicky as if you’ve touched a hot pan.

“You’re not.” Murphy says. Vasquez’s gun clicks again, Warren moves forward a little more.

“Oh so you are” He chuckles, “Kid’s got a baby on board.”

Your eyes fly to 10k. He’s staring at you, hands in fists, a stray tear building in the corner of his eye. Then out of nowhere, He lunges forward and flips the table. It lands a little in front of you, and the shock makes you jump out of your skin, your heart pounding against your delicate ribs.

“HEY!” shouts Warren. “Enough.” Vasquez puts a hand on your shoulder, and leans down so that you can hear him.

“I think it’s time we got you out of here.” He muttered, sending a cautious look over the room. You ponder it for a moment and then you shake your head. You need to stay. You need to explain everything to 10k. You get to your feet and you’re about to step forward when 10k moves again. This time, surprisingly, it’s towards Murphy.

He leaps on top of him, his hands going around his neck. Murphy struggles, but 10k just strengthens his grasp, his thumbs slowly crushing his windpipe. The scene unfolding in front of you glues you to the spot. Murphy is lashing out, and although 10k is bleeding profusely from his nose, he’s holding his own, sat on Murphy’s chest to keep him pinned down. His eyes roll into the back of his blue head just as Warren manages to prise 10k off of the top of him. Murphy lays still but breathing as Warren pulls 10k away.

“Not like this” she tells him. “Not right now.”

10k looks over at you, his eyes big, and the tears now overflowing. He turns towards you and his mouth opens to speak. It feels as though there’s not enough time for all the words that need to be said, but he only say’s two.

“I’m sorry.”

You close your eyes for a moment and smooth your jumper over your stomach before following a tightly wound Vasquez out of the room again.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reader seeks comfort from a friend, and a friend seeks some intense comfort from her.

“You doing okay?”

You look up from your lunch, dropping a tough bread roll back onto the plate and cracking a small smile. Vasquez slides onto the bench opposite you and clasps his hands on the table top. You swallow the bite that you had been chewing and nod.

“Yeah I’m alright” You mutter, one hand stroking your bump. “We’re alright.” Vasquez nods as well and takes a stick of carrot off of your plate, crunching into it and waving the other half in the air as if it were a magic wand.

“Are you going to try and talk to 10k again?” He asked, meeting your eye with a steely gaze. You know that look, he’s already judging your answer, and if you don’t give him that one that he wants, then he’s sure as hell about to tell you. You shrug, feeling the urge to roll your eyes.

“Perhaps.” You tell him, pushing the remainder of your food around your plate. He watches you do so with a careful eye.

“Is that really a great idea?” There’s a growl to his tone, something that you’re not entirely used to. Normally he was so distant and passive with his comments and interventions. Now he seemed the opposite, almost emotional. You wriggled a little under his intense gaze.

“I saw a moment of the old him” you explain, “I think he’s still in there, somewhere.”

He shakes his head and huffs, looking away from you. You feel as though you’ve offended him in some way, but you can’t see how. You feel a soft anger flare inside of your chest. With short, sharp movements you push your plate across the table away from you. He looks at it and then up at you. You return the stare, and when he doesn’t speak, you do it for him.

“Have you got something to say, Vasquez?” you mutter. One of his eyebrow raises seemingly of its own accord. He tuts, a sound that only riles you up further.

“I just.. You’re going to get yourself hurt.” He says finally, his features softening. He looks for a moment like he’s talking through you, to someone in his memory. His eyes are slightly glazed, he almost doesn’t seem present. You choke a little, but you shake it off.

“I can look after myself” you reassure him, forcing another one of your smiles and pushing to get up from the table. Out of the corner of your eye you see him do the same and turn, hand out, gesturing for him to sit back down.

“I’m okay.” You tell him. “I’d just rather be alone right now.” Before he can even fathom a response, you shuffle away, cradling our belly with both hands. You walk carefully, scared that if you go too fast that you’ll trip and fall, or that you’ll bring on some other incident. You’d never been so cautious before you’d know about the little being growing inside of you, the little piece of 10k that you were keeping safe inside of you. It felt as though you protect him, if you protected his baby, you’d convinced yourself.

You made it to your room and closed the door behind you, moving over to your cot and laying down gently, pressing your cheek into the pillow. It was too bright to sleep, and you doubt that you could even if it weren’t. Your mind was full of questions, things that you wanted to ask 10k, that you needed to know. Things that you needed to know from him and nobody else. You don’t know how long you’ve been there before there’s a knock on the door. You ignore it, curling up a little. Slowly the door opens, and Addy’s face appears in the gap. She regards you with her soft eyes, and opens the door further, coming into your room.

“Hey” she whispers. “I just wanted to come check on you and the bub.” She wanders over, coming across to sit next to you, making the mattress creak a little. You pull yourself up to lean on your elbow, putting your hand over hers on the sheets. She smiled at you, and squeezed your fingers. She was your best friend, she had been from the day you’d met. Of course she was here right now, when you needed her most.

“I don’t know what to do.” You tell her, holding back tears. “10k… The baby. I’m so scared.”

“Oh honey” She leans down, pulling you tightly into one of her hugs. She smells good, and you’re not sure how she’s managed it. You sniff into her shoulder as she holds you, and she rubs your back, sore from carrying all the extra weight that you’re lugging around all day every day.

“Everything is going to be fine.” She tells you. “I’ll come with you to talk to him, if you want?” She pulls away and strokes your hair out of your eyes, waiting for an answer. You nod and you’re about to thank her, but you’re interrupted by the door opening again. You look up, smile on your face, but it ghosts away into nothing when you see who’s standing there. Vasquez leans on the doorpost, arms crossed. He looks at both of you, and then ducks his head.

“I came to apologise.” He mutters, staring at his feet. There’s a moment of silence, and then Addy lets go of you, getting to her feet. You watch her adjust her jacket and then look back at you with a beaming smile.

“I’ll give you two some privacy, I’ll be back in a bit to take you to 10k.” She passes Vasquez, putting a hand on his arm for a second before leaving. “Second time lucky!” She calls from the hallway. Vasquez looks up then, uncrossing his arms and taking a step forward. You sit all the way up and straighten your clothes up.

“I’m sorry for being patronising earlier” He mumbles, “That whole blend thing just creeps me out, Warren convinced me that I was overstepping my mark with you.”

You pat the bed next to you, telling him to take a seat. After a second of hesitation he paces across and sits down with a grace that has always amazed you about him. He was so broad and imposing, but he moved like he weighed nothing. He leaned forward, his elbows on his knees, the he regarded you with a sad look.

“It’s okay,” you respond, scratching the side of your head. “I was more worried about your reaction. You looked almost… broken.” You pull your sleeves down over your hands as he looks down at his, fiddling with a chain between his fingers. You wonder if you’re ever going to get an explanation, he’s turned to stone, unmoving except to spin the golden cross between his hands.

“You remind me of her.” He breathes. Wide eyed you move one of your hands from your stomach to his leg, hoping to bring him some comfort.

“Of who?” you press, not sure that you want to hear the answer, it obviously cuts him up inside, whoever it is. He makes a sound like he’s struggling to breathe, and he shakes his head vigorously.

“Angie.” He gasps. “My wife.” He brings his hands up to his head and hits them against his temple, curled into tight fists. You quickly grab his wrists and pull them away from his face to stop him from hurting himself.

“Hey, don’t do that.” You tell him. “She wouldn’t want you to do that.” His fists remain tight but the rest of his body relaxes a little. He looks across into your face, his eyes shining with tears.

“She was strong, like you” He stumbles over the words as if he’s never used them before, as if they hurt him. “And when she was pregnant with Julia…” He doesn’t continue, instead submitting to the tears that are spilling down his cheeks.

“It’s okay.” You tell him, pulling a tissue out of the box on your bedside table. You lift it to his face and wipe away the streams of agony, whispering over and over under your breath that everything is going to be alright. His eyes lift to meet yours, and he takes a deep breath in, letting it shake his entire body.

“You’re so alike.” He mutters, so quiet you hardly hear. Before you even realise what’s happening, he leans across and presses his lips into yours. His hand comes up to cradle your face, his cross dangling through his fingers, the cold metal against your neck. After a second you relax into him, his warm touch is so comforting, that you just let it happen. You lean backwards, seeing if he’d push into the kiss, and he does. He turns and forces you slowly but surely down onto your back. Hovering over you, he moves his urgent kisses to your jaw and neck, giving you a moment to think.

“Vasquez, I’m not her.” You whisper. His kisses stop for a moment, but then he just lifts his head back up and silences you with another kiss, pushing your mouth open and running his other hand up your arm and then back down your side.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” You ask, when you’re able to talk again.

“I don’t need her. I need you.” He moans, running his fingers through your hair where his chain tangles itself. Perhaps you should be asking yourself the same question.

“Eres tan Hermosa” He breathes against your neck where he buries his face, his trembling lips bringing up goose-bumps all over your body. “Te necesito”

You can’t tell whether he’s talking in Spanish because he doesn’t want you to understand, or whether he simply can’t help it, either way, the emotion in his voice is enough to make you melt into the moment, and into him.

—————————————————————————————————

You fidget, pushing your bed sheets down your body and sitting up, head resting against the wall. Vasquez is lying next to you, hand by his face, and slow breathing making his body rise and fall every so often. You curse yourself and swing your legs over the side of the cot, standing up carefully so not to make yourself dizzy. There’s a knock at the door, a knocking you recognise. Your head snaps up and you look from the door to Vasquez and then back again. Shit.

“Don’t come in, I’m getting changed.” You call, hurriedly pulling on some clothes and attempting to make yourself seem presentable. Finally, you rush over to the door and open it a little, peeking out to see Addy, standing with her hand on her hip, chewing on her lower lip.

“You okay?” She asks, trying to look around you and into the room. You readjust yourself so that she can’t, and then nod, pasting on a nervous smile.

“Do you need something?” You ask, fidgeting nervously from foot to foot. She looks at you as if you’ve just grown another head and shrugs, motioning with her z-whacker.

“Well, unless you don’t want to go and see 10k now?” Her tone tells you that she knows something is up. You close your eyes for a second and then you sigh, opening them again slowly.

“Yeah, I do” you mumble. “I’m sorry, I’m just tired.”

“Is the baby alright?” She asks, voice worried. You raise your eyebrows, thinking about your bump in between you and Vasquez as his hands had roamed up and down your body, undressing you, kissing every inch of you, you knew that sex wasn’t a danger to an unborn baby, but you still instantly felt guilty.

“Of course!” You smile wider, fighting the urge to look over your shoulder.

“You coming then?” She flicks her head.

“Yeah.” Slowly you slide out through the door and quickly shut it behind you again. Addy watches you with a bored, unimpressed look. She’s probably worked it out by now if you know her, but she doesn’t say anything if she has, just leads you away.

“Apparently he’s been asking for you” She tells you, you don’t know whether she’s telling you this for your benefit or his. They had been like brother and sister before, and she probably hoped that he was still himself just as much as you had.

“He has?”

“Day and night, Warren is softening, I can tell.”

She brings you up to the metal door, peering through the glass, having to stand up on her tiptoes. You stop a little further back, your hands go to your abdomen, and you stand stock still, watching Addy unlock the room with a little silver key, red hair dropping into her face.

“This is just a precaution.” She tells you, “Just in case Murphy has it in for us and decides to use 10k as his little pawn.”

“Addy?”

“It’ll be okay,” She mutters, pushing the door open and turning back to you. “I’m here with you.”

“No.” you breathe. “It’s not that.” Pain shoots through your stomach and into your chest. You clutch your bump, eyes wide. Addy moves towards you, arms out, looking panicked.

“What is it?” She asks, voice high in pitch and hands shaking.

“Something’s not right.” You whisper, all colour rushing from your face as another jolt of agony rushes through you, making you weak in the joints. “Something..” Something is wrong with the baby. You can feel it, like they’re calling out for your help, screaming for you to save them.

“Shit.”

You hear Addy, but you don’t see her, your vision has gone so dark. The world is pulling away from you piece by piece.

You can’t lose it.

You can’t lose 10k again.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Issues with the baby continue, nobody reacts well. Somebody loses their mind.

Through the mist of panic, you can hear a banging. 10k is pounding his fists against the glass of the door, sunken eyes wide. As Addy puts a comforting hand on your stomach and slips her arm under your shoulder to support you. 

“Let me out.” 10k yells from the other side of the door. “Let me help her.” Addy ignores him, concentrating on getting you stable on your feet and telling you that everything is going to be okay. You nod at her, everything still a blur. The pounding continues, more urgent. 

“Addy!” He half screams at her. Addy shakes her head gently and helps you move down the hallway, away from your original destination and towards the medical ‘ward’ of the camp. It wasn’t much of a ward, more a room with a few cots in it. But Doc had help now, a couple of women who used to be nurses, willing to be doctors of the apocalypse, help people that without them there, would probably be unable to make it. The tiles leading there are shiny, and your feet squeak against it as they drag lazily across the ground. 

“I’ve got you.” Addy mutters, drowning out the sounds of 10k for a moment. “We’re going to get you help.” As she pulls you into the room, the smell of bleach and drugs hits you like a truck. It makes you feel even more nauseous, your stomach does back flips, and you feel weaker by the second. You probably would have fallen had it not been for Doc taking hold of your other arm, supporting your other side. 

“What happened?” He asked, panic in his voice, he helped you up onto a bed, apologising as it made you moan out in pain. Then he looked to Addy who began to explain how the events had gone down, but the words meant nothing to you, all you could think about was your baby, in pain, in danger. Your hands went to your bump, fingers shaking as you tried to feel a connection with your child. If only they’d give you a sign, some kind of word that they were okay, that they could be saved. Doc’s face appears above you and you stare into his eyes, begging him for an explanation for the pain that was cutting through you. 

“We’re going to do a few check-ups” he told you, a smile on his face, but sadness in his eyes. “Laura used to be a midwife so you’re in good hands.” He gestured away from him, obviously towards the body that was connected to a pair of hands feeling around your abdomen, fingers pressing softly, trying to feel what way the baby was facing. 

“Are they going to be okay?” you whimpered, gripping his hand tightly as he slipped it into your palm for support. He didn’t respond, not even looking at you anymore, instead focusing on what Laura was doing down the other end of you. There was a commotion from the other end of the cot, but you didn’t have the energy to lift yourself up and investigate. 

“What’s going on?” comes a voice. A deep warm voice. Vasquez. You hear him move across the room and to your side, and he looks into your face before moving his gaze to Laura, a frown finding its way onto his forehead. You stare at him, watching his dark eyes flicker back and forth and you remember your earlier intimacy. It feels like days ago although it had only been a matter of hours. His hand found its way to yours, stealing it away from Doc. 

“How can I help?” He asked. Nobody responded, rushing around. Implements clinking, medicines rattling and sploshing. Panic everywhere, it wasn’t good, something was very very wrong. Vasquez’ face scrunched up a little and he cleared his throat, trying to get somebodies attention. 

“Addy, can you go and heat some water?” Somebody says, followed by the sound of retreating footsteps. 

“What can I do?” Vasquez demanded again. The way that he was so invested in you concerned you. You tried to pull your hand from under his, but you couldn’t find the strength. 

“Vasquez, give them some space” you whimper, hoping that he’d get the message and move away. He didn’t, he glanced at you for a second and then looked away again, rubbing his thumb against the back of your hand. 

“Vasquez.” You groaned. “Please just go.” 

It was like he couldn’t hear you, nobody was paying attention to you. As if because you were pregnant you’d become merely a vessel for this new human being and what you said and did didn’t matter anymore. The thought made you boil with rage, and pain splitting through your abdomen pushed you over the edge. You snatched your hand away as much as you could and panting through the pain, you shot Vasquez an angry look. 

“I don’t want you here!” you snapped, catching him by surprise. With a pained look on his face, he pulled away, threw one last look towards the ‘doctors’ around him, and then span on his heels. He walked away so quickly that it felt that he had just disappeared. Here one moment and gone the next. You instantly felt guilty, you wondered if you’d ever see him again, whether you’d ever get a chance to apologise. 

“Sweetheart, I’m sure he’ll understand. Plus we’re going to make sure that we get you through this.” Doc tells you, appearing over you again. You realise that you’d vocalised your thoughts. You hadn’t realised that you’d done so. It felt weird, like a dream. A fever, you were falling under a fever. 

xxxxxxxx

Warren unlocked the door to 10k’s ‘cell’. He was sat against the opposite wall to her as she entered, but he quickly jumped to his feet, wringing his hands in front of him as if he was a small child nervous about asking his parents a question. 

“I think Murphy’s asleep.” He whispers, nodding over and over before he has to stop from dizziness. Warren raised one eyebrow and then closed the door, leaning back against it with her arms crossed over her chest. He maintains eye contact with her for a while, until he realises that she’s not going to respond, and then he looks around the room before he speaks again. 

“I can’t feel him, not as much as when he’s awake.” He continues. “I think it would be safe to let me out.”

“And why do you want to be let out, 10k?” She asks, frowning at him as he scratched at his forearm, bouncing a little, obviously on a buzz. 

“I need to go and see her… the baby…” 

Warren’s eyes widened as he spoke and he realised that she obviously didn’t know what had happened. She straightened up from the door and her hand went to her belt. She did that a lot when she was stressed or anxious. 10k guessed that it grounded her, it was similar to him tugging at his clothes. 

“What’s wrong with the baby?” She hissed. 

Seconds later she was dashing down the hallway towards the medical ward. All sorts of images were rushing through her head. She wasn’t sure what to expect when she got there, but she was sure that it wasn’t going to be good.   
As she turned a corner, she almost ran straight into Vasquez, who had his head down, a frown on his face. She was about to excuse herself and be on her way when she saw his fists clenched by his sides. She looked back up into his face and put a hand to his chest, hoping that he wouldn’t brush her off. 

“Vasquez?” She whispered. “What’s happened? Is she okay?” She tried to meet his eye, but he avoided catching hers. He just shook his head and his breathing deepened. Not wanting to push him, she let go of him and after a couple of seconds he moved past her, his arm brushing against hers as he passed. She turned to watch him go and then sighing, she hurried on into the room lined with cots. She approached the bed that you were laying on, watching Doc, Laura and Sarah moving around you. 

“What’s going on?” She asked, moving over to watch you throw your head from side to side, covered in a sheen of sweat, moaning as Sarah slipped a drip into your arm, home made from a plastic sack and a piece of tubing from a car attached to a needle. 

“It’s the placenta.” One of the girls tells her, sterilising some tools in a bowl of boiling water. “It’s detached from the uterus wall, the baby has been endangered.”

“What does that mean?” Warren demanded, scooting out of the way as Doc rushed past her, taking a moment to place a hand on her shoulder for a second. He checked your pulse and then looked back at Roberta, shaking his head and shrugging. 

“We’re going to have to perform an emergency C-section.” He whispers, motioning to Laura, who’s holding up a scalpel against the light, checking that it’s been cleaned properly. Warren looks back to you, mouth open but unable to put any words together. You thrash out a little more, you can hear them talking, but you can’t quite understand any of it. 

“Aren’t you going to give her any pain relief?” Warren exclaimed, watching the knife getting closer and closer to you, but nobody giving you anything. You listen to her voice, it makes you feel safe. You’ve always felt like she was your second chance at a mother. Doc shakes his head, telling her that they don’t have time, that they didn’t have anything at the camp and that they couldn’t wait for a trip out to get back. 

“You can’t just cut her open!” She snaps. Those words manage to make their way through and everything snaps back to reality. You open your eyes and you turn your head to Doc, begging him with your eyes. 

“Please…” you gasp. “Please don’t cut me open.” 

“We have to help the baby, it’ll be over soon darling.” He brushes your hair away from your face where it’s been sticking to your warm cheek. You would normally calm under his touch, he was a dad to Warren’s mum, but right there and right then, you felt as though you were about to witness your life flickering before your eyes. 

“Doc. I can’t. Please.” You cry, tears running down your face, back arching as the pain intensifies. 

“Do it now.” Doc mutters, taking your hand, squeezing it tightly. Warren puts a hand over her mouth, tears overflowing her eyes as well. She wants to throw up, and as Laura cuts through the soft flesh over her stomach, she does.   
xxxxxxxx

Vasquez kneels in the makeshift chapel, fingers gripping his chain and cross tightly as he whispered over and over, begging for mercy. Begging for something to happen, to make things alright. A scream sounded throughout the entire camp. It was so loud and agonising that it felt as though it was inside his brain. He tried to block it out, pressing his hands into his eyes and then moving them around to his ears.

“Don’t let anything happen to them, por favor Dios.” 

Another scream splinters the air around him. He jumps at the sound and then prays louder, trying to separate himself from the world. 

“Don’t let anything happen to my baby… don’t let anything happen to Julia.”


End file.
